IBM develops flexible transistors

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y.  Researchers at IBM Corp. have developed flexible transistors that could be an alternative to the thin field-effect transistors used in liquid-crystal displays.

IBM's transistors, a hybrid of organic and inorganic materials, can be processed with low-cost techniques at relatively low temperatures, which means they can be deposited on plastic rather than on glass. That could pave the way for applications such as foldable computer screens, researchers said.

The transistors' conducting channel consists of layers of a semiconducting perovskite. This results in mobilites comparable to that of amorphous silicon, researchers claim.

The findings, by a team led by IBM scientist Cherie Kagan, were published in the Oct. 29 issue of the journal Science.